EVERYTHING BUT SPORTS: Bias

We all have biases, but we live in a time when everybody is expected to lie and say they don’t.

But here’s something important to remember: a bias is a tendency in outlook—nothing more, nothing less. That means that while our biases may incline us to think and act in certain ways, we have a choice of whether to follow them or not. In short, what we actually do is more important than how we are inclined.

Last week I admitted I’m biased toward people based on their weight. That doesn’t mean I have to act on that bias. In fact, admitting a bias is the first step in overcoming it. When we know we’re biased in a certain direction we can choose to act contrary to it. It’s the ones we try to pretend we don’t have that tend to jump up from the shadows and bite us.

So I wonder what it means that, when it comes to others, we’re expected to deny that we have any biases whatsoever?

I work as sportswriter for the Manchester Times and as preacher and an elder for Fredonia Church of Christ. The opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the corporate positions of the Manchester Times or Fredonia Church of Christ.

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